Wake Up Detroit!

We are sleeping through opportunities to get our equity back.

By Herb Strather

Published: April 27, 2012

Last year, the Wayne County Treasurer auctioned some 13,550 Wayne County properties valued at approximately $400 million. A token deposit of just $500 was required for the right to purchase one of these properties at www.Bid4Assets.com. About 60 percent of the properties sold, leaving tens of millions of dollars in equity on the streets for pennies on the dollar.

Furthermore banks have volunteered to sell property for 10 cents on the dollar no matter what the real value is. So why should anyone feel sorry for Detroit when we have plenty of equity and opportunity lying on the streets, and all we have to do is harvest it to create jobs, home ownership, profits, and better communities? The Strather Academy believes that Detroiters can and should do what we have always done — to lead the way.

Throughout my life, it seems other ethnic group have controlled Detroit either through real estate as landlords, or as merchants selling groceries and gasoline. Real estate investors all over the world see the value here and they buy Detroit real estate, 100 houses at a time. So why aren’t we buying and controlling our own community? The interesting thing is that Detroit led the world during the 20th century in music, manufacturing, and making money (by Innovation and entrepreneurship), so why do we allow others to gobble up the real estate in our community while we sit back and watch. It is hard to believe that those of us with Detroit DNA would allow others to eat our lunch inside our own house!

Perhaps we are asleep or simply unaware of the opportunities. Wake up Detroit! We are sleeping through a great recession, sleeping through opportunities to get our equity back, and sleeping through a chance to get wealthy. Even if you do not have lots of cash to buy, you can still get rich through structuring acquisitions and resale.

Now there is still good news.

The recession has not ended yet. You can still pick up a few good pieces of real estate and be set the rest of your life. God is still in the blessing business. Banks are still giving 90 percent discounts and Wayne County is getting ready for a mid-year auction in June. If you have any of the three C’s such as Cash, Credit, or Collateral, or a Computer, Cell Phone, and Car (with gas) along with Detroit DNA and you want to help restore a World Class City (and make a small fortune in the process), then wake up, get ready, and do it.